


Fresh Starts

by redrobinhood



Category: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: F/F, First Kiss, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-23
Updated: 2020-12-23
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:20:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,221
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28256823
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/redrobinhood/pseuds/redrobinhood
Summary: Recovering from the attack by the Geonosian brain worms, Barriss and Ahsoka sit down to contemplate the events that led up to this moment.
Relationships: Barriss Offee/Ahsoka Tano
Comments: 3
Kudos: 49
Collections: Star Wars Secret Santa 2020





	Fresh Starts

**Author's Note:**

  * For [nic_writes](https://archiveofourown.org/users/nic_writes/gifts).



> A Secret Santa gift!

Ahsoka sat perched on the side of her bed looking out the window of the medical station. They were too far away from Ord Cestus to see the planet, but she could watch the medical transports as they went in and out of the facility and the rotation of the station gave her an ever-changing field of stars to look out upon. Even after all the time she had spent on cruisers, the vastness of the galaxy and the sheer number of stars and planets it held amazed her. It was so full of life, unlike the medical station, which was sterile and cold. She shivered and pulled the blanket around her shoulders closer.

“Are you cold?”

Ahsoka looked to her left as Barriss settled herself on the medical bed beside her. “No. What makes you think that?”

Barriss snickered and set her gaze to the window. “Just a hunch.” Her medical blanket lay loosely around her waist, obviously not being used to keep warm. Ahsoka figured that Barriss didn’t need it, her layered robes would be far warmer than Ahsoka’s. “Space is so sterile.”

“This facility is sterile.” Ahsoka protested. “Out there, the galaxy is rich, full of life.”

“Full of more species who could try to take over our brains?”

Ahsoka laughed and drew her blanket tighter around herself. “Can’t argue with that.”

They looked out at the slow-moving frame of stars in silence for a while until Barriss spoke. “Ahsoka, I am so sorry.”

“It wasn’t you.” Ahsoka reached over and lay her hand over one of Barriss’, warm under her touch. Barriss may have been the only warm thing in this room.

“Maybe not, but it was me. I could see everything it made me do. I could feel it. If it had killed you, it would’ve been the same as if I had killed you.”

“But you didn’t.” Ahsoka squeezed Barriss’ hand gently. “You and the worm didn’t kill me. We made it.”

“I don’t know how to thank you.”

Ahsoka glanced over to see Barriss practically gleaming at her. “You don’t have to, really. I’m just glad you’re alive.” She turned back to the rotating field of stars before them.

Ahsoka saw the flicker of movement out of the corner of her eye, but didn’t register what it was until she felt a press against her cheek. She closed her eyes as she felt the soft fabric of Barriss’ hood falling against her lekku, and the warmth of her skin against Ahsoka’s as Barriss pressed a gentle kiss to the white mark on Ahsoka’s cheek. “I’m glad to be alive.” Barriss murmured as she pulled away.

Shocked and a little dizzy, Ahsoka turned back to kiss Barriss’ cheek in return only to find that Barriss had yet to fully turn back towards the window. Her lips brushed against the corner of Barriss’ and she pulled back much sooner than she had intended to, bringing a hand up to the side of her face and turning away from Barriss. “I am so sorry, I didn’t mean to-.” She stopped herself from continuing. Of course she had meant to kiss her, and she didn’t think that she would mind if she kissed Barriss’ on the lips, but never without Barriss’ permission and Barriss hadn’t had a chance to give her permission.

“No, it’s okay.” Barriss’ voice came from Ahsoka’s left, then her hands were on Ahsoka as she replaced the blanket Ahsoka hadn’t realized had fallen from her shoulders. “I’m the one who started it.”

Ahsoka let her hand fall back to her lap and tilted her head towards Barriss. “But I’m the one who pushed it too far.”

“Nonsense.” Barriss reached over and stroked the back of her finger along Ahsoka’s left lekku. “Can I confess something to you?”

“Of course. We’re friends, Barriss.”

Barriss withdrew her hand and folded it in her lap. “I’ve been thinking a lot the past few days, since we were stuck in the tank, actually. Have you ever wondered if it was right to ignore your emotions?”

That hadn’t been where Ahsoka was expecting the conversation to go. “Well, my master would say ‘our struggle as Jedi is to move past them’.”

Barriss shook her head. “You make it sound so easy.”

“No, it isn’t easy.” Ahsoka agreed. “But it’s possible.” That part she wasn’t so sure on. While Anakin had always stressed moving past your emotions, in her talks with Obi-Wan he had not been so dismissive of emotion.

“What if you didn’t want to move past them?”

Ahsoka really wished that Obi-Wan was here. “Well, Master Kenobi would say that while we should not ignore our emotions as Jedi, we cannot allow fear or attachment to guide them. As Jedi, we are encouraged to love, but we must not let our love get in the way of following the Force’s will. I think that’s the part that Master Skywalker struggles with.”

“But what do you personally think?” Barriss prodded.

Ahsoka shook her head. “I don’t know. I haven’t given it much thought. I’ve never needed to before-.”

“Before now.” Barriss finished the sentence.

“Yes.”

Barriss brought a loose fist up to her chin, gently tapping the side of her fingers against her jaw in thought. “Ahsoka.” She drew her name out as if thinking aloud. “Would you mind if we tried that over? Properly.”

Ahsoka hesitated. “On your cheek?”

“No. On…” Barriss let the thought trail off, her brows drawn together in worry.

“Oh.” Ahsoka resisted the urge to reach up and hide her flushing lekku. “Okay.”

“Okay?”

“Okay.”

Barriss turned her body towards Ahsoka, who mirrored the action, before hesitating. Having decided on a course of action, Ahsoka lay her hands on Barriss’ far shoulder and began to lean in, tilting her head to the side. At Ahsoka’s touch, Barriss’ hesitation ended and she too leaned in, permitting their lips to meet in the middle. This close, Ahsoka could smell the earthy scent of Geonosis still on Barriss’ skin. She wished now that she had had some form of lip salve with her, but Barriss’ lips were chapped from the sand like her own and still so inviting.

Still hesitant to push Barriss’ boundaries, Ahsoka slowly worked her lips against Barriss’ for a few loud heartbeats before letting go. If her head tails hadn’t been flushed before, they were now. Barriss’ own face shone dark green under the tattooed diamonds that graced her cheeks.

“Are you…?” Unsure how to finish that sentence, Ahsoka let the question trail off.

“That was really nice.” Barriss said softly, reaching a hand up to readjust the hood of her robes.

“Yeah, it was.” Ahsoka brought one arm back, leaving the other wrapped around Barriss’ back. “What do we do now?”

“I don’t know.” Barriss shrugged. “I didn’t think we’d ever get this far.”

Ahsoka felt some of the tension leaving Barriss’ body when she laughed. “Me either.”

“I suppose that we’ll just have to see what happens from here.” Barriss smiled sweetly over at Ahsoka, who beamed back at her.

“I think I’d like that.”

When Anakin Skywalker returned to the medbay to check on his padawan, he found Barriss and Ahsoka sitting side by side on the bed, looking out into the vast blanket of stars that stretched before them.


End file.
